Smriti Irani to chair meet for discussing new national education policy

New Delhi: The broader contours of the proposed new national education policy is likely to be deliberated upon at the state Education Ministers' meet on Tuesday along with the guidelines for the choice-based credit transfer system.

The meeting, which would be chaired by HRD Minister Smriti Irani, is set to be the first such engagement of the former with the state education ministers and will come before the much-awaited meet of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the highest decision-making body on education in the country.

Irani is expected to discuss the broader contours for the initiation of the year-long process of drafting the national education policy after involving stakeholders from every walk of life, ministry officials said. The initiative is set to kick-off in this month itself.

The meeting will also discuss the skilling initiatives taken up by the government.

The underlying theme of the meeting would be deliberation over the adoption of the 'choice-based credit transfer system', which is to be implemented from the coming academic session.

The system will enable students to opt for courses of their choice, learn at their own pace, undergo additional courses and acquire more than the required credits and adopt an interdisciplinary approach to learning.

"Several states are yet to understand the programme and, therefore, the meeting will seek to address their issues and concerns," officials said.

Adoption of the grading system will facilitate seamless mobility of students across the institutions of learning in the country.

UGC has circulated the guidelines to vice chancellors of all universities with a suggestion for adopting it from the coming academic session.